The impact on the health care system by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided increased federal stimulus funding for health care continuing education. This funding also started the process of computerizing all health care records on a national level. These two key features have caused a shift in continuing education training for the health care field.
This increased federal funding caused a positive impact on the growth of jobs in the health care field. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts a shortage of trained health care workers, which translates to an average 25 percent (four million jobs) increase in the demand for health care workers in 20 health career fields by 2016 (Monthly Labor Review, November 2007).
The primary causes for the increased need for additional health care professionals is due to the growing population in the United States, along with the increasing numbers of retiring baby boomers. Advances in medical technology and medicines have extended the average life expectancy, impacting the health care industry.
Health Care Education: Increasing the Number of Workers
The increasing demand for skilled health professionals comes at a time when most health professions are experiencing worker shortages. To help boost the number of workers, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) increased funding for continuing education for adults desiring to enter a health care career.
The BLS reports that there are at least 200 health disciplines with worker shortages, including the following five fastest growing health care occupations (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11):
- Substance Abuse and Behavioral Counselors – 34 percent (Bachelor Degree required)
- Physical Therapist Assistants – 32 percent (Associate Degree required)
- Health Care Environmental Science and Protection – 28 percent (Associate Degree required)
- Physician Assistant – 27 percent (Master’s Degree required)
- Physical Therapists – 27 percent (Master’s Degree required)
Additional federal stimulus funds provided by ARRA support health care continuing education programs such as:
- Scholarships for Disadvantaged Health Professions
- Students the Centers for Excellence
- Health Careers Opportunity
- Technology Equipment to Enhance Training of Health Professionals
Nurse Education: Meeting the Demand
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected a shortage of almost 600,000 nurses, a 22 percent increase, by 2018 (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11). The ARRA federal stimulus funding increases the student and continuing education capacity of nursing schools to alleviate this shortage.
Funds were allocated to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by ARRA to provide grants, scholarships, loans, and loan repayments to expand the number of adults entering the nursing training programs. These funds also include Scholarships for the Nursing Workforce Diversity program.
National Health Service: Health Care Continuing Education
The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) provides scholarships and loan repayment for health care students and clinicians in federally-designated health professional shortage areas. Additional NHSC funds, 300 million dollars provided by ARRA, are expected to help double the number of Corps clinicians by 2012.
The additional funds available through this federal stimulus program include:
- National Health Service Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment
- Nursing Education Loan Repayment
- Nurse Faculty Loan programs
- Faculty Loan Repayment Program
Technology Training: Medical Informatics
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided 1.2 billion dollars to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for a national health care records data base, called medical informatics. The impact of this funding is the need to provided continuing education training for current health care professionals regarding this technology implementation.
This requirement also created worker shortages in computer information systems and data base management systems in support of medical informatics. Additional continuing education and training is needed for adults entering the health care field to alleviate the shortage of skilled workers in this area.
The primary purpose of medical informatics technology is to create a national medical health records data base for all Americans to decrease the overall cost of health care in this country.
Making Connections: Health Care Education and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Professional and continuing education programs and courses specially tailored for health care professions are increasing rapidly to fill the gap of skilled workers. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided additional funds for programs in medical informatics, program expansion of nursing programs, and continuing education programs for providing critical skills and training for health care professionals.
David R. Wetzel - Dr. David Wetzel's experience includes more than 25 years in continuing, adult, and teacher education.
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